Staff

THE STAFF

JIM and ANDREA HAWTHORNE

Executive Director and Food Service Manager

Jim and Andrea arrived at South Cottonwood Canyon in 1995 toting their one-year old daughter and anticipating the birth of their second child. Over the course of the next 22 years their family grew – they now have a total of five immediate children and countless college and high school students who have spent their summers with them at camp. Jim is the Executive Director and Andrea, after having raised their five children, has once again acquired the position of Head Cook. Both of them consider camp to be one of the greatest blessings of their lives and are thrilled to continue in God’s Kingdom work at YAA!

MARK and JILL OETTINGER

One morning in Sunbury, PA, Jill stumbled across a job posting for a Maintenance Director at a Christian camp in Bozeman. For many years, they felt God’s calling to full-time ministry, and this was finally their opportunity! So began the cross country trek, hauling three boisterous young kids , one dog, and a trailer loaded down with all their earthly possessions. Mark is the Building, Grounds, and Equipment Manager and, in his own words, he does everything – from mowing lawns to rebuilding trucks and everything in between! Jill is the Administrative and Financial Assistant and is integral to our office team. Their whole family loves being outdoors hiking, fishing, and hunting and, most of all, they all love serving Jesus at YAA.

MAX PLASKET

Program Specialist

Max grew up in Kennesaw, GA but has spent almost every summer since 2012 working at YAA! He just completed his Civil Engineering degree at Georgia Institute of Technology but over the past few months the Lord led him to postpone his engineering career and commit to serving Him full time in Montana. In his words, “It was one of the scariest decisions of my life, having to decide between a full time structural engineering offer and this amazing opportunity to be program specialist at YAA. My decision came down to where I believed I could personally grow the most, as well as most effectively serve the Lord in this season of life right after college.”